The kitchen counter at the end of Winter

The kitchen counter this morning at The Trad Pad
All these items - bar one - are recycled.  Guess which?

The Coca-Cola glasses came from Fusspots at Inglewood.

Can't recall where I got these -
The metal sweets/nuts container
The white bowl (chipped but who'd notice?)
The glass jug holding the Silver Beet (chipped but I don't care!)

The Silver Beet is recycled too -
this plant has been the gift that keeps on giving.
I cut and cut and it keeps producing.

The one thing that is not recycled is the 'Fresh Cream' pail.
It is was once new but is well worn now.
I have a pair of them.
One holds scraps of a vegetable nature for the wonderful Worm Farm.
The other holds the stuff that the worms can't eat.
That stuff is composted.

...and are the tables set for Tea?

A week ago I was thinking of the morrow, Saturday 28 June 2008. Can you please mark the date? Major achievements must be recorded with the time (the invitation said to be there at 1.30pm) at the Zetland Hall in Kyneton. Three of us were taking the trip to Kyneton: Gina of Patra's Other Place, Helen of Helen's Haven and Miss Eagle. Our blogging friend, Leeanne of Pear tree cottage! was organising a Ladies Afternoon High Tea to raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation.

Here are the tables all set up waiting for the guests.

But I think we should begin at the beginning - or working from the bottom up.

Leeanne has long been a collector but in the year leading up to the High Tea she excelled herself at collecting. Above is detail of some of the cloths that graced the tables of the Zetland Hall.

And then there were the trios - cups, saucers, plates

Bone china galore!

Some were retro, some were vintage, and some were ancient treasures.

Beside each setting were exquisite napkins. Detail above.

Placemarkers!

And then there was the food - and the teapots

And then there were the people.
Leeanne's mother - she of the 250 scones - top left and bottom right.

Leanne, the wonder woman, second from top left and bottom left.

Miss Eagle is on left second row from bottom;

Gina is in the middle in a pink top; and next to her in elegant black is Helen.


The men of the Zetland Lodge waited on us and modelled the auction items.

And Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer was Rob, Leeanne's Dearly Beloved.

It was a magnificent afternoon. Such an achievement! The Mount Everest of feminine hospitality. For most of us if we had organised an event in such detail for six of our friends we would have considered it well done. Leeanne did this for 104 women. Can you imagine - the trios, the cloths, the napkins, the tea and coffee pots, the cake stands! And each place had a novelty and a gift and a place marker. And then there was the wit and whimsy! Gina is a great collector of embroidery - and a great favourite is the crinoline lady. We were seated at a table with the most exquisite crinoline lady cloth. I noticed the beautiful plate on which our scones were placed. But as we ate our way through the scones, a crinoline lady appeared. Matching cloth and plate!

Thank you Leeanne - and to Rob and the men of Zetland Lodge - for an absolutely amazing afternoon. Extraordinary! It will live long in the memory. Blessings and bliss!

Glass and style

You will recall, dear Reader, the recent opp shop expedition with Gina and Sharon?

Herself, ever the stylist, took the small selection of glassware that Miss Eagle made that day, put it together with some from a previous solo expedition and added it all to our existing collection and this is how it all looked.

A jug or three...

This is The Trad Pad's Jug collection - not counting a few enamel ones.

Signs of Easter - 3

Some favourite things are in this spot. Miss Eagle's dear departed Dearly Beloved owned the chess table. The crocheted rug in the basket is a UFO from Miss Eagle's late mother, Phyl. Phyl had been doing this for her grandson, Sam, when she died. Miss Eagle's sister and Sam's mother, The Director, does not crochet so Miss E volunteered. After fifteen years and Sam nearly 30, Miss E is nearly finished. We shall see if winter brings a conclusion!
The ducks are favourites of Miss E which belonged to long-since-departed great-uncles.

The pencil and quill belong to Herself and come from Il Papero.

Eggs in a basket of moss. Easter is on the way.

The phone book and a feather

Cutting it? These take the biscuit....

Over at Pear Tree Cottage!, Lee-ann has displayed a marvellous collection of cookie cutters. Miss Eagle loves biscuit cutters too so here are hers. Some, Miss E has had for quite a while - but they are not the oldies and goodies that live at Pear Tree Cottage!

The Collecting Chemist of Elsternwick - 3

This sign in the collection of The Collecting Chemist of Elsternwick is deserving of its very own post. It is a bit special. It is special because:

• it is bilingual
• it is two sided.

The Collecting Chemist of Elsternwick - 2

The Collecting Chemist of Elsternwick not only collects signs. He collects Apothecary's Jars. These were very difficult to get good shots of because they are up high out of harm's way and are such magnificent sets so that they are sitting side by side on the high up shelves. Please take a trip to Glen Huntly Road and see for yourself, dear reader. You will be well rewarded.

The Collecting Chemist of Elsternwick -1

Geoff and Sue Szwarcbard's Guardian Pharmacy at 393 Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick has a treasure trove of items from chemist shops of yesteryear. Their chemist shop is quite ordinary. It looks like it could have been there a very long, long time but gets "modernised" every few decades or so. It is not large and spacious and bright like really modern pharmacies found in shopping malls. No this is a very traditional squeezed in chemist shop in a suburban shopping strip in the main street of Elsternwick. The first clue is the signs hanging in the doorway as one enters from the street.

The signs in the collection are metal - in some cases complete with rust.